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NB: Typographical errors are, in general, not listed. There are too many of them, and they are often corrected in later editions.
In [TEOTW: 13, Choices, 190], Thom is telling Rand about the Heart of the Stone: "None but the Great Lords of Tear can enter there, and they never speak of what lies inside." In reply, Rand asks, "Is the Dragon supposed to be a Great Lord of Tear?" Everywhere else in the series, the rulers of Tear are referred to as "High Lords". [Stephen Cooper]
Q: What about those Warders in Caemlyn around Logain in TEOTW? [TEOTW: 42, Remembrance of Dreams, 535] Didn't Moiraine say that they were all Red sisters? Reds don't have Warders! RJ's answer, as reported by Tony Z: Moiraine never mentioned the sisters escorting Logain (not all of whom were Red). The ones with Logain weren't in Caemlyn at the time (evidently they stayed with the army, which stayed outside the city). Moiraine was referring to those that were in Caemlyn.
Why does Moiraine wear her great serpent ring on her left hand in [TEOTW: 2, Strangers, 22-3] and [TDR: 3, News from the Plain, 26] and on her right hand in [TGH: 4, Summoned, 39]? I can think of four possible reasons:
When Rand returns Thom's harp and flute to the gleeman in Cairhien, Thom grumbles: "You could at least have kept it (the harp) in tune" [TGH: 26, Discord, 323]. For travel, harps (and many other stringed instruments) are ALWAYS detuned -- the tension on the strings is reduced to prevent string wear and possible snapping. [Erica Sadun] {NB: In later printings, this has been corrected, with Thom saying, "At least you weren't fool enough to try keeping it tuned."}
On pointless tasks: "Lan sat under a tree sharpening his sword; the Warder gave Rand a careful look, then a nod" [TGH: 49, What Was Meant To Be, 574]. Jim Shaw wonders why he was doing that, since he told Rand that sharpening is unnecessary for Power-forged weapons: "Blades that will not shatter or break, and never lose their edge. I've seen men sharpening them - playing at sharpening, as it were - but only because they could not believe a sword did not need it after use. All they ever did was wear away their oilstones" [TGH: 1, The Flame of Tar Valon, 5]. (It's clear from Rand and Lan's conversation further down the page that Lan's sword is Power-forged as well as Rand's.)
In [TDR: 41, A Hunter's Oath, 388] Perrin is remembering a confrontation between Moiraine and Zarine. "Once she learned the girl thought they would lead her to the Horn of Valere, ...then her cold blue stare had taken on a quality that made him feel he had been packed ..." Which left me wondering whose cold blue stare? Both Moiraine and Zarine have dark eyes.[Aline Thompson] The quote continues "The Aes Sedai said nothing, but she stared too often and too hard for any comfort.", implying that it refers to Moiraine. [Joe Shaw] [TEOTW: 2, Strangers, 22], [TGH: 4, Summoned, 38], [TDR: 6, The Hunt Begins, 55], [TSR: 3, Reflection, 71] and [TFOH: 2, Rhuidean, 68] all describe Moiraine as having "dark eyes", and [TDR: 33, Within the Weave, 319], [TDR: 35, The Falcon, 333], and [TSR: 2, Whirlpools in the Pattern, 40] describe Faile as having "dark, tilted eyes". {NB: this has also reportedly been corrected in later printings of TDR}
Metallurgy Mistake, from John Palmer and Don Harlow: Maybe others have noted this metallurgy mistake, as a engineer this bugged me. In the Dragon Reborn, when Perrin takes a day at the Smithy, he notes the three quenching media: "As soon as he had made the hot-cut, he tossed the glowing metal into the salted quenching barrel. Unsalted gave a harder quench, for the hardest metal, while the oil gave the softest, for good knives." [TDR: 50, The Hammer, 506] Wrong. In order of resultant hardness, it goes Oil, Water, Salt Water, with Salt water yielding the hardest blade because of best heat transfer and higher boiling point than plain water. Oil is softer because of slower heat transfer but is commonly used for cutlery because it causes less thermal stresses and a tougher blade. (won't break from shock) Salt water quench is definitely a harder quench than fresh water. It's due to the higher boiling point of salt water precluding the formation of an insulating vapor layer over the steel which slows heat transfer from the steel to the water.
Hey, what's the scoop with Shadowman steel? First, Thom Merrilin runs into a Fade and it left him "a little present of a stiff leg." Then after the fight where the Aiel come to the rescue of the girls: [TDR: 39, Threads in the Pattern, 382] "Shadowman steel kills," Aviendha said, "it does not wound." Finally, Rand's thought while fighting a Fade: [TSR: 10, The Stone Stands, 132] "That black metal could make wounds that festered, almost as hard to heal as the one that ached in his side now." Is there something that I'm missing, like it just kills Aiel, or does this qualify as a Jordan mis-step? [Dash Wendrzyk] {NB: the obvious explanation is that the Fade did not stick Thom with its sword; the Fade just smacked him one, instead.--Pam}
Courtenay Footman tells us more about the Siuan's Warder incident: This has been the subject of extensive discussion here. The consensus has come down to three possibilities: 1) Jordan screwed up. 2) Being shielded interferes with the bond. IMHO, this last is refuted because Jordan gives a different explanation: 3) Siuan was distracted by other things going on at that moment: [LOC: 30, To Heal Again, 427], Siuan thinks "Alric, her Warder. Her dead Warder, murdered when Elaida deposed her. She could lie--the Three Oaths were still gone--but some part of her bond to Alric, a bond flesh to flesh and mind to mind, had been resurrected. The pain of his death, the pain first masked by the shock of what Elaida intended and then buried by stilling, that pain filled her to the brim." It seems to me that there is no choice but to accept this statement. Whether one believes that Jordan meant this all the time, or that this is just an after-the-fact rationalization of a mistake, seems to me to be a matter of personal opinion.
In [TFOH: 36, A New Name, 409], Birgitte tells Elayne "You saved my life, Daughter-Heir of Andor. I will keep your secret and serve you as Warder." But later in [TFOH: 47, The Price of a Ship, 550] Birgitte verbally scolds Elayne for telling Cerandin she was heir to a throne, and doesn't believe it until Nynaeve makes an offhand comment in [TFOH: 49, To Boannda, 570]. {NB: By the 5th edition hardcover, Birgitte's statement was changed to "You saved my life, Elayne. I will keep your secret and serve you as Warder." - Steven Hillage}
Rand balefires Rahvin, erasing his actions, etc. However, none of Rand's injuries, all sustained at the hands of Rahvin, disappear--they were instead Healed by Nynaeve afterwards. [TFOH: 55, The Threads Burn, 672-3] [Sean Hillyard] (NB: Joel Gilmore went to see RJ at a book signing in Australia (21 September, 1999), where RJ told him, in specific reference to the battle with Rahvin, that when someone is BFed, the constructs they make in T'A'R do not disappear, but instead fade away slowly over time.)
In [TFOH: 52, Choices, 624] when Moiraine hands Rand two letters, just before the Big Scene at the docks, their (the letters') seals are described as having the imprint of Moiraine's Great Serpent Ring. Later on, in [LOC: 40, Unexpected Laughter, 516], when Thom receives his letter from Moiraine, the seal is now some sort of wide-spreading tree topped with a crown. [A.M. Gabutero]
In the LOC Glossary, under linking, it says that in mixed circles less than 13, a man must control the flow, and that there must be more women than men in circles greater than two [TFOH: 34, A Silver Arrow, 390]. However, in TFOH Nynaeve overhears Lanfear, Graendal, Sammael, and Rahvin discussing their plan against Rand. In particular Sammael is to tempt Rand into attacking and the other three would link to overwhelm him. [Emma Pease] At a signing, RJ said that the LOC glossary entry is wrong. It is certainly different in the ACOS entry: 43 vs 34, and the numbers where men can equal or exceed women are changed. Still doesn't explain the TFOH gaffe. [John Novak]
Timing problem: There is an inconsistency in ACOS regarding Colavaere's coronation. In [ACOS: 4, Into Cairhien, 117], Dobraine says, "The ninth sunset after her coronation already. She wasted no time." However, in [ACOS: 5, A Broken Crown, 125], Colavaere says, "Nine days ago at sunrise I was crowned Queen of Cairhien." This is a contradiction because the first statement includes the current day as one of the nine, while the second doesn't. [Steven Cooper]
In [ACOS: 13, The Bowl of the Winds, 263], Aviendha introduces herself as "Aviendha of the Nine Valleys sept of the Taardad Aiel." She's previously been from the Bitter Water sept, from when we first meet her [TDR: 38, Maidens of the Spear, 361] onwards. Now here's the interesting bit. The Maiden that Nynaeve Heals in [TDR: 38, Maidens of the Spear, 368] (Dailin) is first referred to as being from Aviendha's sept and clan; i.e., the Bitter Water Taardad. Later, she's referred to as being from the Nine Valleys sept. So what gives? Two errors that are fortuitously similar, or a particularly odd attempt at retconning an old error? [Andrea Leistra] {NB: This error has reportedly been corrected in later printings to give Aviendha's sept consistently as the Nine Valleys Sept.}
In [WH: 32, A Portion of Wisdom, 602], Nynaeve is telling Rand about her ter'angreal. As she is telling him about the Well she actually demonstrates their use by channeling a flow of Air to touch his face. One would expect the guards to raze the inn to the ground after that, but nothing happens. Perhaps the detection part of the ter'angreals doesn't work with that small an amount of the Power? [Kjell Stahl]
Dame Not-Appearing-In-This-Battle: What happened to Erian Boroleos at the
end of WH? She was in Cadsuane's Company when they went to Far Madding [WH:
23, To Lose the Sun, 452]. She went with Rand to Shadar Logoth; in [WH: 35,
With the Choedan Kal, 630], Rand tallies up the members of his party,
noting "Verin and the other five Aes Sedai who had sworn to him, and the
four who were Cadsuane's companions." The "other five" are Elza Penfel,
Nesune Bihara, Beldeine Nyram, Sarene Nemdahl, and Erian Boroleos. Cad's
Cadre is Daigian Moseneillin, Corele Hovian, Merise, and Kumira (who do not
seem to have last names). But Erian apparently takes no part in the battle
at Shadar Logoth, even though her Warders, Nethan and Bassane, are
mentioned (scouting with Lan).
The circles formed during the Cleansing were:
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